Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will publish the analysis and assumptions which underlie its policy of securing £22 billion of efficiency savings in the NHS.
The National Health Service's own action plan for the next five years – the NHS Five Year Forward View – anticipated a gap between resources and patient needs of nearly £30 billion a year by 2020/21, if there were no further efficiencies. To fill this gap the Five Year Forward View called for an extra £8 billion in funding, which the Government has committed to, along with £22 billion of efficiency savings.
The Department will continue to work together with the health service, our partners and patients to develop key elements of the programme required to achieve the £22 billion of efficiency savings. The precise health budget will be determined by the Spending Review.